It was already clear to me then that Wolford had a cold. That’s not difficult for a listed company either. But the fact that the cold turned out to be a full-blown flu was a particular challenge.

Of course it wasn’t too much of a surprise, the company had already been through some difficult years by then. And it was clear from the start that we needed to work on structural issues. I am a person who loves challenges and I approached it with full vigour.

When I took over responsibility in the financial area in November 2015, it quickly became clear that we needed external support. We had to implement restructuring measures in many areas and competent external advice helps to keep the issue within a manageable timeframe. In most cases, you can’t do this from within the company alone. And with Syngroup, we had a very competent partner at our side.

Which is true in a way. And it cannot be denied that Wolford was in trouble. The good thing about a crisis, and to that extent the quote is true, is usually the willingness to implement restructuring measures. As a listed company, you naturally have to keep an eye on the capital market and see what the share price is doing. After all, investors live on dividends and rising share prices, which are of course strongly influenced by the profitability of the company. On the other hand, investors have also been calling for restructuring for some time.

The first step was to concentrate on our sales company. We handled this primarily internally. We tackled the major restructuring from 2017, when I was appointed to the Executive Board. After an extensive joint analysis, we basically turned many screws. On the one hand, this involved process optimization, addressing overcapacities and optimizing overheads through duplication. It was never simply a matter of operating cost cutting via the workstations. That would be the easiest way to say that you save 30 percent on employees. At Wolford in particular, this would not be possible and certainly not meaningful due to the diversity of the system.

Anyway. Together with Syngroup, we were able to take managers and employees along with us in this process. As a result, many improvements were implemented extremely quickly. Of course, this is also a great advantage for the company. We had broad support at all levels.

In the last financial year we had 180 FTE and were thus able to achieve sustainable savings. The positive side effect of the cost savings is that the company can be more agile and efficient.

We are currently monitoring the flow of customers at our 130 boutiques, but there are always a few problems. The retail network is basically performing well.

That is absolutely relevant, and we also have double-digit growth rates in this area. Especially through our Chinese investor Fosun, we hope to gain additional access to the Asian market. There are channels that are not even known in our geographies.

I think we are on the right track. We have done quite a few important things, but we have to be aware that in this challenging market environment, constant questioning and changes are necessary. We have the advantage of being able to build on an internationally renowned brand, but no company can afford to stand still.

The collaboration was absolutely productive. But you have to be aware that with such intensive activity, which we have undertaken together in a very short period of time, we sometimes grind our teeth. But with Syngroup, we have a consulting company at our side that very openly addresses critical issues. Together, we have been successful in quickly picking up our managers. This is an immensely important factor, since in the end, such restructuring measures are all about efficiency and time.